Page 33 of What it Takes
Johnny laughed, since they often joked about using a hose on him after he’d been playing outside or working with Emma in the yard. And sometimes they weren’t joking. When Emma nudged him between the chairs, he took off running toward the camper with Emma on his heels.
“The bathhouse, Johnny. Don’t you dare touch Grammy’s camper with your hands like that.”
“I better go help,” Sean said.
“I’m going to get going, anyway,” Ben said. “It’s been a long day and I ate way too much. If I don’t leave now, I might fall asleep in this chair and I don’t trust you guys.”
Sean laughed as Ben stood up, and then shook his hand. “You’ll be around, though, right? We’ll be hitting the trail tomorrow.”
“I might see you out there.”
Sean didn’t miss the glances and waves Ben and Laney exchanged before he said a general good-night and walked away from the fire. Then he heard Johnny squeal and he put his friend’s love life out of his mind. If he didn’t get to the bathhouse and help Emma, it was his own love life he’d be worrying about.
He found them in the bathroom, with Emma trying to balance Johnny on her raised knee so he could reach inside the sink. But he was too heavy for that now, so he grabbed his son around the waist and lifted him.
“I’ll hold him and you scrub him.”
Emma made quick work of Johnny’s hands and face with the warm water and soap, and Sean dried him off while she washed herself up. Then, while she dried her hands, Sean looped his arm around her waist and pulled her close so he could kiss the back of her neck.
“Are you having fun so far?”
“Yes, although I’m freaking exhausted and it’s only the first day.”
“There was also the driving and the set-up. But I’ll take him to the camper and get him in his pajamas. If I read to him for a while, he’ll probably nod off. You brought the baby monitor, right?” She nodded. “Then you go get Terry to make you a drink and sit in front of the fire for a while. I’ll bring the monitor out with me when he’s asleep.”
She turned in his embrace so she could kiss him. “That sounds like one hell of a plan.”
“Then maybe later we can fool around a little.”
After a nod toward their son, who was trying to scrub chocolate off of his shirt with a wad of paper towel, she shrugged. “I might let you get to second base.”
“Tell Terry to make it astiffdrink.”
She kissed him again and then bent down to kiss Johnny. “It’s time to go in the camper and read with Daddy.”
Sean knew his son was wiped out when he didn’t put up a fight. He just took his hand and walked with him toward their RV. Emma looked back at them, silhouetted by the campfire behind her, and he blew her a kiss.
Yes, he was definitely one lucky son of a bitch.
* * *
Leaving the Northern Star without specifically seeking out Laney to say goodbye felt wrong to Ben, even though he knew it was the right thing to do. The smile and wave across the campfire had to be enough, since anything more would have attracted attention and she wouldn’t want that. He had a feeling if Mary and Rosie decided to do some matchmaking, Laney would feel uncomfortable pretty quickly.
His apartment was dark when he let himself in, and so quiet he turned the television on just to have some background noise. Most of the time he didn’t mind being alone too much, since he was used to it, but he didn’t usually spend the evening surrounded by happy couples. Tonight, though, the apartment felt so empty he was surprised the voice of the sports reporter on the television didn’t echo.
After changing into a pair of cotton sleep pants, he stretched out on his couch with the remote and started flipping through channels. He found nothing that was engrossing enough to make him stop wishing he had somebody to talk to.
He could picture the others going back to their RVs and talking about the night. Laughing at something one of the kids had done. Sharing little tidbits they’d heard through the family grapevine. Talking about their plans for the next day’s vacation.
Ben fell asleep to an infomercial for some gadget that would roast a chicken in a fraction of the usual time and woke with a sore neck to the early morning news.
After setting the coffee to brew, he jumped in the shower, hoping the hot water would ease the pains of a restless night on the couch. He should have just gone to bed, but he’d been afraid he’d lie awake, thinking about Laney and how lonely he was.
Ben dressed in cargo pants and his paramedic T-shirt because, if he did decide to meet up with the guys and ride, he’d still technically be on duty. He still hadn’t made up his mind about that, but he thought he might go out for a little while. It would be the guys, which meant he wouldn’t feel like a third wheel, or a fifth wheel or whatever wheel he’d be. And he could burn off some energy, which wouldn’t hurt.
He heard voices in the driveway, so he went downstairs to see his parents for a few minutes before going to work. They were the early-to-bed-and-early-to-rise kind of people, so he always had a better chance of seeing them at the beginning of the day than at the end.
They were discussing whether or not the driveway needed resealing, and less than two minutes later, Ben wished he’d found a way to sneak out without them seeing him. It wasn’t likely he could have gotten in his SUV and driven past them, but he could have tried.
